Recruitment Crisis

[TexasTiger 13,006]

Army's recruitment crisis deepens

May 26, 2005

BY ROBERT NOVAK SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST

Retired Army Lt. Col. Charles Krohn got himself in trouble with his superiors as a Pentagon civilian public affairs official during the first 3-1/2 years of the Bush administration by telling the truth. He is still at it in private life. He says not to blame the military recruiters for the current recruiting ''scandal.'' Blame the war.

''Army recruiting is in a death spiral, through no fault of the Army,'' Krohn told me. Always defending uniformed personnel, he resents hard-pressed recruiters being attacked for offering unauthorized benefits to make quotas. In a recent e-mail sent to friends (mostly retired military), Krohn complained that the ''Army is having to compensate for a problem of national scope.''

The Army's dilemma is maintaining an all-volunteer service when volunteering means going in harm's way in Iraq. The dilemma extends to national policy. How can the United States maintain its global credibility against the Islamists, if military ranks cannot be filled by volunteers and there is no public will for a draft?

Krohn's e-mail describes the problem: ''Consider the implications of being unable to find sufficient volunteers, as seen by our adversaries. Has the United States lost its will to survive? What's happened to the Great Satan when so few are willing to fight to defend the country? Surely bin Laden et al are making this argument, telling supporters victory is just around the corner if they are a bit more patient. And if they're successful, the energy sources in the Mideast may be within their grasp.''

Krohn says this reality is accepted by recipients of his message. It also meets agreement from active-duty officers I have contacted but who cannot speak publicly. They ponder how an all-volunteer force can be maintained when generals say there is no end in sight for U.S. troops facing an increasingly sophisticated insurgency.

Krohn's message goes on to say ''the recruiting problem is an unintended consequence of a prolonged war in Iraq, especially given the failure to find WMD.'' He therefore calls for a ''national consensus to address the root causes'' of the recruiting problem -- that is, the war in Iraq.

But the focus at the Defense Department has been on the excesses of desperate recruiters, 37 of whom reflected their frustration in trying to meet quotas by going AWOL over the last 2-1/2 years. The official response was a 24-hour stand-down in recruiting to review proper procedures. It also has been proposed that enlistments, now usually three to four years with a minimum of 24 months, be cut to 15 months.

The recruiting guru Charles Moskos, professor emeritus at Northwestern University who once suggested an 18-month tour, now says shorter enlistments will not help. He proposes restoring the draft, but that is a political non-starter. Democratic Rep. Charles Rangel, who as a drafted soldier won the Bronze Star in Korea, is one of the very few members of Congress who advocate the draft. He does not hide his motive: A president would be politically unable to take a conscript army into wars such as Iraq.

In contrast, Krohn is a lifelong Republican who actively supported George W. Bush's presidential candidacy in 2000. He specified in his e-mail that ''I'm not now blaming'' President Bush or Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld for the situation. ''We have a problem that transcends politics,'' Krohn added.

http://www.suntimes.com/output/novak/cst-edt-novak26.html

[vatz22au 142]

No one my age wants to fight this war (And can you blame them?). The whole reason for the war was to find WMD....now, since its obvious there were never any weapons of mass destruction, the reasons for this war have been enough to fill a 200 page book.

Its one thing to fight for your country...its another to fight for lies and corruption (no im not naming America this....im referring to the point of the Iraq War). Thats how alot of young people see it. Why waste your own life in a war that doesnt make sense to you? It might make sense to alot of "older" people (and for that, I dont understand....this war is just as pointless as throwing knives at your foot)....but no one is reaching out to the young people and making sense to them.

Not only that...but it seems to me this war could've been over with a long time ago. As far as America's army strength goes...its really overrated. We cant even round up a bunch of infidels....yet we only have what, the most high tech force out there?

I read earlier on how one of the leaders of a terror network was ALMOST caught...but escaped on foot to another city, where we cant find him. I just cant believe that one of the most sought after people was able to escape....ON FOOT to another town!!!

Unorganized....no will to fight.....the point of fighting is not clear....all these points can be made to why young people dont want to have anything to do with this "political agenda".

[quietfan 233]

No one my age wants to fight this war (And can you blame them?). 

Its one thing to fight for your country...its another to fight for lies and corruption ... Thats how alot of young people see it.  Why waste your own life in a war that doesnt make sense to you?  It might make sense to alot of "older" people but no one is reaching out to the young people and making sense to them.

...

Unorganized....no will to fight.....the point of fighting is not clear....all these points can be made to why young people dont want to have anything to do with this "political agenda".

161169[/snapback]

Deja vu all over again... was this written in 2005 or 1968?

[vatz22au 142]

Dont know....but to even compare the events (student rallys, protests) of 1968 to 2005 is just pathetic. Alot more wrong was going on there at the time than I believe is going on here.

We had race issues....we had conflicts with the USSR....we had a president assasinated, you name it...America had it during the 60s and early 70s.

I am not calling for a withdrawal of all troops...I am only trying to find why we are there. No one can answer that question....without a list full of excuses.

I believe the reason we go to war should be the ending reason once its all over with....the reason shouldnt change 200 times.

[quietfan 233]

Dont know....but to even compare the events (student rallys, protests) of 1968 to 2005 is just pathetic.  Alot more wrong was going on there at the time than I believe is going on here. 

We had race issues....we had conflicts with the USSR....we had a president assasinated, you name it...America had it during the 60s and early 70s.

I am not calling for a withdrawal of all troops...I am only trying to find why we are there.  No one can answer that question....without a list full of excuses. 

I believe the reason we go to war should be the ending reason once its all over with....the reason shouldnt change 200 times.

161207[/snapback]

I certainly agree that at the worst of the '60's a lot was happening that isn't happening now, so I didn't mean to imply EVERYTHING was the same as the '60's.

However, many of the specific questions you asked about this war (Why are we fighting? Are we dea.ing with lies and corruption? Why should we young people die for a war only the older generation really wants? etc..) are the very questions young people were asking about the war in 1968. I'm not making a value judgement--but the questions you ask are exactly the questions I and many other young people were asking back then. I just hope that not so many young Americans have to die this time before the issues are resolved, whether for the right reasons or the wrong.

[Piglet 0]

First off, it shouldn't surprise anyone that fewer people want to join the military when there's actually guns going off. When our own soil is being threatened--the revolution, civil War, WWII, etc., people will flock to serve their country, but foreign wars are much less popular, and any connection between 9-11 and what's happening in Iraq today is too shaky to be compelling.

Second, I notice that all the pundits, preachers and other high-profile talkers who go on about 'supporting the troops' and 'stand with the President' aren't calling on people to enlist, and they're certainly not enlisting themselves. It's easy to talk, but these guys aren't walking the talk. Gotta wonder why.

An exception is Mike Coffman, the Republican State Treasurer from Colorado, who actually resigned his office to go serve in Iraq. Now there's a real hero for you, doing the right thing as he sees it, at great cost to himself.